10th annual Joanna Mullin ride held in Weymouth

WEYMOUTH -- More than 1,000 bikers rumbled through the South Shore Saturday for the 10th annual Joanna Mullin Motorcycle Run, a 35-mile ride held in memory of a slain Weymouth girl.

Joanna would have been celebrating her sweet 16th birthday Saturday. “Ironically, I would be begging her to stay off of a motorcycle,” said Joanna’s mother, Heather Mullin.

The ride raises money for Joanna’s Place, a nonprofit organization the Mullins family founded to offer counseling and support for children and families who’ve experienced trauma or loss.

Joanna was 6 when she was murdered in 2007.

“It seems like forever but it feels like yesterday,” said Heather Mullin.

Riders were escorted by police motorcycle units from across the South Shore. The ride begins and ends at the Weymouth Elks Lodge and typically raises about $40,000 for the charity.

Mullin was named Weymouth Rotary Club’s Person of the Year. On Saturday, she and her husband, Jerry, received a Congressional citation from Congressman Bill Keating for her work at Joanna’s Place.

“In our society, too often the needs of children aren’t a priority. This [Joanna’s Place] fills a need,” Keating said.

Joanna’s death rocked Weymouth. In 2009, her cousin Ryan Bois was convicted of murdering her. He was sentenced to life in prison.

The memorial ride took hold after motorcyclists rallied to support the Mullin family. They have the “biggest hearts,” Heather Mullin said on Saturday. Neither of Joanna’s parents ride motorcycles.

Heather said she wanted to focus on helping others after her daughter’s murder. Many parents who have lost a child have gone to her seeking support. She said new initiatives at Joanna’s Place include weekly support groups for kids who have lost a sibling or parent, kids with a sibling with a disability and kids who have a parent with a terminal illness. Some of these groups involve techniques such as art therapy.

Suzanne Drown of Brockton, who planned to ride the 35-mile route on a Harley, said, “I just wish I knew about it [Joanna’s Place] when my husband passed. I would have brought my kids.”

Nicole Bradley, who was Joanna’s preschool teacher and Heather Mullin’s former classmate said, “Heather is a warrior. She should be everyone’s idol. She took something horrific and made it into something special for so many people.”

On Saturday, there were more than 100 prizes for riders to win, including specially designed Joanna’s Place towels, as well as donated items from the Patriots, Red Sox and Bruins, including a Tom Brady autographed football.

Arlene White, Joanna’s grandmother, wore a silver dragonfly pendant to the event. The dragonfly is also the logo of Joanna’s Place, which she said has brought a lot of people together through tragedies.

White said, “After she died, we used to see dragonflies everywhere. Dragonflies don’t live a long life but they have a happy life.”

Reflecting on her most treasured memory of her granddaughter, White said, “The night before she died, she was at my home. I took her to McDonalds. I had rabbits in the back yard. I asked her, ‘Do you know why I spoil you?’”

White said that Joanna replied, “It’s because you love me.”

White said that after last year’s motorcycle run was over, she walked back to her convertible that had been sitting in the parking lot.